Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Blog

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, vol 2

by

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, Volume 2 by Waco Ioka, Midori Yuma and Laruha

I found the first volume of this series pleasant enough, but I wasn’t sure how well it would measure up to the heights of other Shojo Beat series like Kamisama Kiss or Demon Prince of Momochi House. Reading the second volume of Kakuriyo reminded me that it is always good to give a manga series a couple volumes to settle into itself, and I found some of the mysteries being set up in the second volume broadened the world building a bit more to capture my interest.

Kakuriyo 2

The volume opens with Aoi stumbling across a Tengu in front of the abandoned cafe that she’s temporarily inhabiting in the spirit world. The elderly man reminds her of her grandfather, and she proceeds to feed him her extra food. As she introduces herself to Lord Matsuba, he realizes that she’s Shiro’s granddaughter and starts laughing with his recollections. He shares some of his memories and goes on his way. The next morning Aoi finds out that she’s stumbled into spirit world diplomatic relations, as Lord Matsuba is extremely powerful. He finds it outrageous that she’s sleeping in a storeroom and cooking, and offers to bring her to his mountain where she can be a bride for one of his sons. He also gifts her with a special fan. Aoi is determined to find her own path and declines his offer, but her worth in the spirit world has definitely increased.

The world building in this volume was also entertaining, as Aoi gets a chance to see the spirit world outside of the inn, and meets Suzuran, a geisha who is also the sister of the receptionist. It turns out that Kijin is much more protective towards the people who work for him than Aoi was assuming. She also gets a chance to win over one of her earlier enemies in this volume, again due to the power of her cooking tailored towards the individual. Seeing the world open up a little more in this second volume drew me into the story much more than the first, and I’m intrigued by the references to Aoi’s grandfather and her growing friendship with the fox spirit Ginji, who seems to remind Aoi of her grandfather in mysterious ways. Seeing Aoi’s human ways start to influence the existing relationships between the spirits is interesting, and I’m curious to see how she begins to wield more influence due to her cooking habits and approach to human-spirit world relationships.

I still wish the art for this series had a bit more of a unique twist to it, but I enjoyed seeing the airships of the spirit world, the faceless handmaidens who prepare Aoi for an outing, and the continued practices of wearing masks, as Aoi has to hide her human nature when she’s away from the relative safety of the inn. I think I’m starting to see more signs of a deeper story emerge in the second volume of Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, so I am curious to see how it unfolds.

The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc, Part III

by

By Tsutomu Sato and Kana Ishida. Released in Japan as “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

A word of warning that I’m still mostly grumpy about this volume, as I have become about this series in general. I think it’s become something where I’m interesting in seeing where the author takes things, but hate every decision he makes when he takes them. This volume wraps up the arc with Lina coming to Japan and Shizuku going to America, and also the killer “parasites” that do, in fact, kill more people before they are taken down. There’s also graduation, as Mayumi and the rest of her year move on to University – though not, the author reassures us, away from the story, though no doubt they will appear less. And there are some nudges towards the main plotline, as Erika figures out what family Tatsuya is really from. I was thinking at the start of this arc that she, like Honoka, might actually confess to him, but that’s unlikely to happen now. Besides, we know which ship will win.

I am almost at the point with Tatsuya and Miyuki where I wish they DID sleep together, if only as it would provide an excellent dropping point. But no, we continue to have Miyuki try to be the dutiful little sister even as her thoughts are growing more and more romantic and sexual as she gets older. As for Tatsuya, well, he’s ambivalent to everyone else, and seems to be pushing back on Miyuki when she takes things too far, but it’s hard to gauge his feelings on the matter given his past and lack of emotions. That said, I’m not really rooting for Honoka here either, who seems to have forgotten she confessed to Tatsuya and was rejected several volumes ago and is goaded by Shizuku (over the phone, and likely sleep-deprived) to press her case harder. This does lead to the funniest part of the book, where Honoka “makes herself useful” against the forces tailing them in a way that you know would have made Tatsuya facepalm if he had the ability.

As for Lina, her arc overall was “there’s always someone better than you”, in this case Tatsuya and Miyuki, showing her that she’s not as terrific as she thinks she is. Which is fine. I was far less happy with the “you’re too nice to be a soldier” bullshit from Tatsuya, which I’m fairly sure he would not have said had Lina been a man – but then if Lina had been a man I suspect her character would have been killed off anyway. It’s also a bit off that we never really see Lina reuniting with her superiors, or how they felt about her performance. I’m sure she’ll show up again, but it’s likely going to be a while, and I bet I’ll never really see resolution there, just as we never really resolved the 2nd part of the Nine Schools Competition after it got attacked. The author drops loose ends like crumbs.

We start the new school year next volume, which seems thankfully to be a single volume arc. I’ve no doubt that we’ll expand the cast with exciting new freshman. Till then, I’m honestly happy to see the back of this arc.

86 –Eighty-Six–, Vol. 1

by

By Asato Asato and Shirabii. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lempert.

I have a certain reputation for being a softie, and will freely admit that I drop series sometimes just because I find them too bleak and depressing – in fact, see my review of WorldEnd a few months ago. But sometimes I get a book that, even though it is unrelentingly downbeat and cruel, I end up enjoying far more than I thought, simply because the writing is so damn good. Such a book is 86, a blunt look at war and racism seen from an alternate universe that seems eerily close to our own at times. It examines how easy it is for people to fall into hatred and murder, how being idealistic and thinking something is wrong is not really enough when you’re in a position of great privilege, and the constant physical, mental and emotional strain of being a disposable soldier whose “leaders” want them to die. I was depressed while reading most of the book, but I absolutely could not put it down. It’s stunning.

The Republic of San Magnolia is at war with the Legion, weapons of the Empire. Fortunately, they have unmanned drones to fight the battles for them! Unfortunately, their technology isn’t great, so their “unmanned” drones are manned by the Eighty-Six. There are 85 Sectors in the Republic, and it decided to take all those who weren’t “pureblood” and put them in an 86th, which is essentially a concentration camp, and send them out to fight the war. They’re not people, after all, just subhuman pigs, so it doesn’t matter what happens to them. Our story follows Lena, a young idealistic “handler” who thinks this is wrong, but also thinks that she can do something about it by virtue of forcefully making her point. She’s assigned to a new group of Eighty-Six, the crack squad who are on the front lines preventing an invasion of the Republic. Unfortunately, her squad is getting diminished by the day. And they have no respect for her. And the enemy are horrifying.

This is absolutely a book with an agenda, make no bones about it. It’s about human dignity and rights, and how easily everyone can throw away someone else’s for their own. The technology of the “Legion”, which is a bit higher than the Repiblic’s, allows for a truly terrifying scene where we see what has happened to many of the 86s who have died in battle, and it causes Lena to have a bit if a screaming fit. There’s also several scenes where Lena has her hypocrisy and privilege pointed out to her in the most caustic of terms, and she’s the one who grows the most in this book, to the point of sacrificing almost everything – but not her ideals. Despite being unrelentingly grim, the book somehow avoids being cynical. I honestly felt it was a one-volume series till the very end – it was apparently written for a competition, so had to be self-contained. (It won.)

I hate to repeat myself, but I don’t think I’ve been this blown away by a first volume in quite some time. If you are tired of isekais, or tired of fascism, or just love good prose, and don’t mind a lot of death and degradation, 86 is absolutely a series you should be reading. Highly recommended.

Manga the Week of 4/3/19

by , , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: Normally I have fairly strict rules about Manga the Week of. Alphabetical by publisher, then alphabetical by title (aside from Vol. 1s). But occasionally I decide to shake things up and go… in reverse! Let’s do that.

That does mean we start with Yen On, which (assuming no delays till 2025) has the 8th volume of No Game No Life.

And now Viz, aka the reason I reversed things, because OMG the Viz next week is AMAZING. There are technically no debuts, but we do get (drum roll please)…

—Yona of the Dawn 16, one of the best manga being published.
—We Never Learn 3, a promising romantic comedy.
—The Water Dragon’s Bride 9, headed towards its climax.
—Takane & Hana 8, still funny enough to make me ignore the age difference.
—The Promised Neverland 9, one of the best manga being published.
—Platinum End 8, which… eh. MJlikes it. I think.
—My Hero Academia, one of the best manga being published. Not only that…
—My Hero Academia Vigilantes 4, a series some like better than its parent. Not only THAT, but…
—My Hero Academia: School Briefs, a new light novel spinoff with illustrations by the creator, with this first volume focusing on Parent’s Day.
–the final 4th volume of Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, which isn’t great but it’s Nisioisin so I can’t really dis it.
—Food Wars! 29, which has basically become Bleach, so Bleach fans should love it!
—Ao Haru Ride 4, one of the best new 2018 debuts!

MICHELLE: Sooner or later, I’ll be reading 75% of those!

ASH: That really is an impressive week for Viz! I’ve particularly got my eye on Shojo Beat’s fantasy series.

MJ: MJhas never gotten past volume two of Platinum End but really really wants to like it. Wow, what a week, though!

ANNA: Very excited for Yona and Water Dragon’s Bride and many other things!

SEAN: Isn’t that magical? But wait, there’s more! That’s right, folks, don’t touch that dial!

Vertical has the Movie Edition of BLAME!. It’s what it sounds like, the manga adaptation of the movie, and it ran in Shonen Sirius.

Udon has the 9th volume of Persona 3.

Seven Seas debuts a done-in-one title with Transparent Light Blue (Toumei na Usui Mizuiro ni), which runs in Ichijinsha’s Comic Yuri Hime, and so I guess is yuri.

ASH: I’ll probably make a point to check it out eventually, then.

MJ: Could be interesting.

SEAN: Seven Seas also digitally debuts Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, a light novel that essentially kicked off “reincarnated in another world” books. Will it take off here? Or will this be a case of “what’s the fuss all about?”.

Also from Seven Seas is Non Non Biyori 11, Lord Marksman and Vanadis 10, the 5th Arifureta light novel (print version), and Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor 6.

Kodansha Digital debuts Momo’s Iron Will (Inuwashi Momo wa Yuruganai), an Aria title from a creator who was seen in Neo Parasyte F, and is better known for her BL. It’s about a girl with a brother complex, but looks like it may rise above that suspicious premise.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’m rather wary of that premise.

MJ: Same.

SEAN: We also got Yozakura Quartet 23, Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? 6, and Chihayafuru 16.

MICHELLE: Yay, Chihayafuru!

ANNA: Woo hoo!

SEAN: Lastly, J-Novel Club has the 4th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles digitally…

And also has a slew is print books! Debuting is If It’s For My Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord 1-2, as well as The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 1-2. And we get 3rd print volumes for How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord and In Another World with My Smartphone.

ASH: Oh! I might have to give If It’s For My Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord a try now that it’s in print.

SEAN: It’s a reverse list! getting you are What?

MICHELLE: ziV fo daolparc A!

MJ: elggig em edam ellehciM!

Plunderer, Vol. 1

by

By Suu Minazuki. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Ace. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Ko Ransom.

Yes, yes, OK, I should have known better. Sometimes I preorder new series without paying much attention to what’s actually going on. Like, for example, the fact that this is written by Suu Minazuki, creator of Gou-dere Sora Nagihara, which I wasn’t fond of; Judas, licensed digitally by Viz but looking to be along the same lines; and Heaven’s Lost Property, whose length is probably the only reason it too was not brought over here. The author has a reputation for fanservice, let’s put it that way. Now he’s turning his attention to fantasy with this series, which features a plot which made so little sense that I had to go back and read the explanation again. It also gets pretty dark, to the point where I wonder if the editor said “can you add some blatant panty shots to cheer the reader up?” and the artist smiled and gave a thumbs up. That said… it’s written for an audience of teenage boys, and boy, does it know that market.

We start off with Hina, a young girl (she seems to fall into that “am I eight years old or sixteen?” type) who is searching for the Fabled Ace, a war hero who may or may not be a legend. Instead she finds a perverted guy who wears a mask, whose goal is to look up her skirt, and a nice bartender woman, whose goal is to explain why everyone has number tattooed on them. Each number is a thing that a person can achieve – the bartender has a number that’s the times her food has been called good, while Hina’s is apparently the miles she’s walked – and when that number hits zero, the person is sucked up by black tentacle things and sent to “The Abyss”. The achievement can be ANYTHING, which makes it simply confusing. Moreover, Hina is naive and trusts too easily. Fortunately for her, she has an ally, sort of. Unfortunately, it’s the pervert in a mask.

This series runs on fanservice to a large degree – when Hina has to disappear from the plot for a bit, we are introduced to a young sergeant major in the military who fills much the same position – and I absolutely do not recommend it to anyone whose tolerance for panty shots is low. That said, what about the rest of it? Well, I’ve made my opinion of the “count” thing clear, I think it’s overly confusing and a plot convenience. The actual plot is following Hina and Licht (the guy in the mask) as they try to avoid everyone going after her as she has a “ballot”, which is another macguffin that means essentially “whoever holds this has power”. The overall tone of the manga suggests it’s going to be fairly grim, and I suspect a few of the cast are not going to survive. That said, this is written by a creator who’s been around for several years, so the composition is fine, and the fights are exciting enough.

Basically, this is a volume that hits its demographic, but ONLY its demographic. If you’re a teenage boy, you’ll love this. All others should read something else.

True Tenchi Muyo!: Washu

by

By Yousuke Kuroda and Masaki Kajishima. Released in Japan as “Shin Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-o-ki” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Lillian Olsen. Adapted by AstroNerdBoy.

The subject of this book may come as a surprise, given that the first two books in this series focused, not on Ayeka and Ryoko, but on Ayeka’s father and Tenchi’s grandfather. But yes, the third book is out, and finally we have one that gives us backstory on one of the main cast. The prologue to this story takes place after the Tenchi OAV episode where they all have to take care of the baby, and expands on Washu’s past that came out in that episode, which was that she’d had a husband and child, but they were immediately taken from her. As such, the bulk of the book goes back in time – way back – and shows us Washu as a young woman, leaving her adopted home planet and going to the Imperial Academy’s Department of Philosophy… at the age of eighteen, smashing all records. There she meets a familiar young man…

First of all, it’s simply odd to have most of the book dealing with a Washu that isn’t 20,000 years old (cryofreezing notwithstanding). Washu here is young and idealistic, though she’s already starting to work on her snarky side. This is helped along by her sempai at the academy, Naja, who seems to be another one of those characters that all Tenchi fans should know about because they read the ancillary material. Naja basically fulfills the function of Airi in the last book, only without the romance (mostly: there is a hint that Naja’s moaning about boyfriends is a front for something else, but it never goes anywhere and also plays into uncomfortable “watch out for the predatory lesbian” territory once or twice). No, the romance comes from a young man who has a knack of walking in on Washu even when she’s in libraries with very tight security. They fall in love quickly, and have a child, but he has a Secret Past (a theme in all these books), and their love is quickly shattered.

It is, to me at least, a bit disconcerting that Washu’s husband is basically a Rule 63 Mihoshi. It’s a bit less surprising for those who’ve seen the other OAVs and know that Mihoshi’s family and ancestors all look almost exactly the same, but disconcerting nonetheless. The best part of the book is simply watching Washu have to deal with being a big fish in a very big pond – everyone wants to treat her like a VIP, and she hates that. It’s also amusing to see Dr. Clay, the pathetic villain in the 2nd Tenchi OAV series, as a pathetic younger villain in these books – well, villain is the wrong word. Jerk? The best part of the book may be Washu’s covert meeting with her husband’s new wife, which leads to a jaw-dropping bit that the narrative, thankfully (if sadly), did not take. Very well done.

There were supposed to be three more books after this one. I believe the fourth was about Mihoshi’s family, and may have finally given us the backstory to her that only the OAVs really had (it was hinted she was a crack, serious police officer till something broke her). Alas, it’s been twenty years, so I think this is all we get. Still, it’s a wonderful nostalgia trip for Tenchi fans.

Bookshelf Briefs 3/26/19

by , and Leave a Comment

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 13 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – I’m not quite sure if the artist is going for “being happy in love damages your creativity” or “being with the wrong guy damages your creativity,” but either way I’m not wild about the fact that Nino is having trouble singing again after her confession to Momo. Yuzu’s forceful kiss is not really helping there, either. That said, it certainly helps keep up the potboiler aspect of this. I was more interested in Kurose and An, as even if she’s clearly a “last-minute pairing” addition, I like her style, and honestly Kurose is better off with her, though we aren’t there yet. Add to that the fact that the volume runs short so we can have another of the author’s early short stories, and it’s only an okay volume. – Sean Gaffney

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 5 | By Matoba | Yen Press – We get a lot more of Sacchan in this volume, and that helps explain why the anime expanded her role as well. Clearly she’s more popular as a blushing mess than she is as a violent stoic, and so that’s what we see here, as she clearly likes Astaroth but his playboy tendencies and her self-image issues torpedo any chances. As for Mullin and Beel, anime-watchers will no doubt recognize the cherry blossom chapters, but they’re sweet, and also help to give a bit of backstory to Pandemonium, which is getting to be less “Hell” and more “we’re moving to the next town over” in terms of wars with God. Still as light as a feather, but cute and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Candy Color Paradox, Vol. 1 | By Isaku Natsume | SuBLime – Onoe is a journalist working for a weekly magazine and he’s less than enthused when he’s assigned to partner with Motoharu Kaburagi, a photographer whom he considers his rival. Worse, it appears that Kaburagi has never even noticed him. When they go out on assignments together, Onoe keeps screwing up and eventually becomes downright incompetent at his job after he realizes he’s attracted to Kaburagi. Kaburagi notices, of course, and somehow finds Onoe’s tsundere-tastic protestations to the contrary endearing, so ends up falling in love with him. The parts of this volume I liked best were the few pages where they’re working together successfully and getting scoops, but now that they’re officially a couple, I’m pretty sure journalism is not going to be the focus. I’ll give it one more volume at least to see how it goes. – Michelle Smith

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 11 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – “The operation was a success but the patient died” would be a good summary of the final volume of West Wind Brigade, as Kuroe is able to revive and save everyone, but the cost is very high. It’s a surprisingly serious ending to what has been a relatively light-hearted spinoff, so it makes sense that the actual ending is a festival with everyone trying to get Soujirou to take them around. This whole thing taking place in the first five or so volumes of Log Horizon, there’s not really a lot of plot-advancement it can do, though we see Shiro at the end, despairing about Soujirou’s harem and also talking about the nature of the world they’re in. This was fun. – Sean Gaffney

Love in Focus, Vol. 1 | By Yoko Nogiri | Kodansha Comics – I did very much enjoy this volume, for those worried about a “Vol. 1” appearing in Bookshelf Briefs; it’s just I don’t have much to say about it. It’s cute. It reminds me a lot of Shortcake Cake, though the dorm situation is most likely why. Mako is attending a high school far from her home due to its photography club, and bonds with a sullen dark-haired boy with a secret past and her childhood blond-haired friend who “sees her as a sister,” except that’s totally not true. A love triangle is in the works, though as with most of these series the final result is pretty obvious from the get go. It’s only three volumes, though, so I’m happy to read more of it. – Sean Gaffney

Love Massage: Melting Beauty Treatment, Vol. 1 | By Toki Sunazuka | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Honestly, I don’t know what compelled me to read this. It’s exactly what you would expect, going by the cover. Shiho Sannomiya is a lonely office worker who is surprised when handsome Haruki Toudou shows up when she schedules an in-home massage. She immediately begins sexually fantasizing about him, which makes it awkward when he’s transferred to her workplace. Dreams become reality when they immediately start making out. Various interruptions prevent them from doing the deed, including a note from another female client that leads Shiho to feel foolish for feeling special. But not to fear, for Haruki has immediately fallen in love with her! Everything happens swiftly and with zero depth whatsoever. I shan’t be reading volume two. – Michelle Smith

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 34 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I avoided reading this for a while as I knew what was coming. Yes, Sinbad has a plan, and that plan involves mind-controlling everyone into being totally fine with being killed and “reborn” in a better world. This unfortunately includes Morgiana, though at least she seems to be fighting it off. It does not include Judar and Harukyu, however, who were too evil to be affected, apparently. And so now they have to go battle Sinbad, which means conquering all the dungeons that he conquered when he was younger. This is pretty much the last arc of this title, so it makes sense that we’re back to dungeon crawling after so long. I do wish Morgiana could be part of it, though. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 42 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – After the last couple of volumes showed Kyoko’s growth as an actress, it makes sense that here we see she has a ways to go. In particular, her concentration is very touch-and-go, and almost loses her the role when she gets distracted. Thank goodness for Moko, then, who saves her butt, though she has to endure a little bit of devotion afterwards. It’s a kickass moment for her, but the cliffhanger worries me—I suspect we will not be seeing the Kyoko/Momo show we’ve all been waiting for. Still, there’s some fantastic acting here from Kyoko, as well as seeing how far an actress will go to win a role. Skip Beat! doesn’t come out as often anymore, but I’m always waiting for it. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, Vol. 5 | By Neko Nekobyou and Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – This was popular enough to get a second arc, so we get a new character, a complete newbie whose friends seem to enjoy fucking with her because she’s pretty gullible. Fortunately, she runs into our heroines, who help to set things straight. They also run into an old face from SAO… or rather from SAO Progressive, who hasn’t met the main cast here but is very familiar with Kirito and Asuna. And they’re going to need all the help they can get, as they’ve got to take on a new quest that has another group wanting it far more… enough to pay big money for it… or just beat them up for it. This isn’t as sweet and fluffy as it was before, but it’s lots of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart | By Syundei | Seven Seas – Go For It, Nakamura! was one of my favorite manga released last year, so I was very excited when another of Syundei’s works was licensed. Be warned, though—the two volumes are vastly different in tone. While there are a few adorable and heartwarming moments to be found in Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart, it is still very much a horror manga. If anything, the incongruity of its charming elements actually contributes to the underlying unease and disquieting mood of a story about serial killings, reincarnation, revenge, and corrupted love. It’s a blood-soaked and disturbing tale, and deliberately so. Admittedly, the dramatic climax does bring the volume to a rather abrupt and somewhat unexpected close, but overall Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is horror that is both effective and affective. I very much appreciate the creator’s versatility and sincerely hope to see more of Syundei’s manga translated. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Ummmmmm…

by , , , and Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: There are a lot of new volumes for series I haven’t started yet this week, which makes me feel kind of weird about picking them. Still, there’s no way I’ll ever resist a series called Dragon Goes House-Hunting, so I’ll choose the second volume with the certainty that someday I really will read it.

SEAN: Same here, so I will pick a 5th volume of Kakafukaka, a digital josei manga whose overall subdued mood and frustrating but fascinating characters I’ve really come to enjoy.

ASH: Despite the number of series being released this week, there are actually relatively few that I am actively following (at least at the moment). Inside Mari is one exception to that, however, so that’ll be my pick this time.

ANNA: My pick of the week is the stacks of unread manga in my house. Maybe I’ll get caught up on a series or two!

MICHELLE: Honestly, that should be my pick every week!

MJ: I’ve been sick for the past week, so I’ll join the catch-up group this week! I’ve got quite a backlog to get through.

Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer), Vol. 3

by

By Tsukikage and bob. Released in Japan as “Darenidemo Dekiru Kage kara Tasukeru Maou Toubatsu” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Caleb DeMarais.

It’s becoming clear that these books live or die based on the “guest” characters. The last book had a poor orphan girl who was so fed up by the antics of Ares and Amelia that she willingly went along with the villain at the end. But she was somewhat grounded, and this made everything easier to take. This time around we have Stephenne, whose joke is that everyone assumes her to be faking her “dojikko” personality because no one could truly be that dumb and unaware, but nope, what you see seems to be what you get. If anything, Stephenne helps to highlight one of the points of the book. Everyone is appalled at her basic personality, especially because she’s a super high level and can crush most things. Why would you not have her in the party? Well, because she’s like that. Yes, I just describes Ares. Replace “dojikko” with “asshole” and they’re the same character. No wonder his boss gets headaches just talking to him. It’s like watching Maxwell Smart and the Chief.

The premise is much the same as last time – our hero party has entered a new place, but they need to level up and get stronger, so Ares and company tail them and try to facilitate things. Stephenne is supposed to help on both sides, but she’s such a walking disaster that no one wants anything to do with her. In the meantime, Golem Valley, where this book takes place, seems to be distressingly free of dangerous golems. Oh, there’s enough so that the hero can defeat them, but where are the super strong ones? As Ares investigates, he finds that the demon lord has also sent a party to Golem Valley. A confrontation is needed, and Ares has to do the only thing he knows how to do really well: piss everyone off.

Last time I found Ares slightly less obnoxious and awful, but that’s changed once more – he’s really terrible in this book, and you absolutely can see why most sensible people want nothing to do with him. Amelia, who is in love with him, isn’t much better, as for God’s sake, WHY? Seeing her jealousy at Stephenne hanging out with Ares and her increasingly unsubtle hints just makes me wince. They’re helped by a half-giant turned priest, who’s the nicest, most relatable character in the book and ends it by now speaking to Ares. Meanwhile, the hero party are suffering from now being good enough to defeat most low-level threats. All the major flaws from the first book have been explained or are about to be fixed. Unfortunately, that makes them all rather dull, with most of the interest, again, coming from Stephenne interacting with the party and being herself.

I’m not sure how much we’re supposed to sympathize with Stephenne here – the author doesn’t seem to like her much either, and the ending where her spirit familiar abandons her seems to be mean. But then the book runs on mean, because Ares is its star. It’s well-written and I like the plot beats, but man, you grit your teeth reading it. The fourth volume seems to be the last so far in Japan – perhaps Japanese readers feel the same? (EDIT: No, it’s apparently that the author is working on more than one series. It is still ongoing.)

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart

by

By Syundei. Released in Japan as “Gesshoku Kitan” by Akaneshinsha, serialized in the magazine Opera. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Amber Tamosaitis. Adapted by Lora Gray.

I was quite happy to read another manga by this author, Go for It, Nakamura-kun!, and so I decided to pick this up, figuring it would have more entertainingly mild BL and wacky retro-style humor that reminded me of Rumiko Takahashi. In a way, I was right, this did remind me of Rumiko Takahashi. But it’s along the lines of Mermaid Saga rather than Ranma 1/2. Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is another done-in-one series from Syundei that ran in Opera, but there the similarities to Nakamura end. This is a brutal horror story, filled with murder, revenge, reincarnations, and reincarnated revenge. It’s very much a mood piece, and while I did end up enjoying it I’d say it doesn’t quite reach the same audience as Nakamura did. It’s also a lot more explicit than Nakamura was – here be blowjobs, and there’s some non-consensual sex sprinkled throughout. That said, if you like dark BL and suspense/horror, this is definitely worth picking up.

Hoshino is a young man at an all-boys’ school with a crush on his classmate and a recurring dream where he’s killed by an older man. His crush, Yamada, comes on a bit too strong, and is a lot more comfortable being gay than Hoshino seems to be. Things get a bit more complicated when, after suddenly getting kissed in the park after school, a blond boy shows up and brutally murders Yamada. Horrified, Hoshino calls the police… only the body is gone. Now he’s in trouble with the cops. What makes things worse is that the next day Hoshino sees the blond on the street… and the blond has no memory of anything that happened the previous day. What exactly is going on with Yamada? Is he really dead? Is he also connected to Tani, another classmate in their school? Or the writer that Yamada lives with… and sleeps with? And what does this have to do with Hiroshi’s dreams of getting killed in the past?

This is a riveting read, and I really enjoyed the story, but I’m not certain that I’d call it fun. There’s no consensual sex here – even the kiss Yamada gives to Hoshino is forced on him – and Yamada is a twisted villain… well, sort of a villain. As I also said, there’s a lot of brutal murders here, of various kinds, from stabbings to drownings, and the book, while it doesn’t revel in the violence, does not back away from it either. The best reason to get the book is the creeping sense of doom and suspense that goes along with turning the pages. The mystery, being somewhat supernatural in tone, isn’t much of one, but the mood is great, and there’s a twist at the very end that I really loved, one that only works with the logic of everything that came before – or rather, a lack of logic that comes with this type of story.

This isn’t for everyone, but if you like your BL with a side of suspense and don’t mind the violence – sexual or otherwise – it’s a good read.